


it's the little things

by xshadesofpurple



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Drinking, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-17 00:15:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9295859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xshadesofpurple/pseuds/xshadesofpurple
Summary: "He pulled his phone from his pocket, finally taking it off of silent to check his texts now that he was practically finished. The SMH group text had completely blown up—as it always did during a kegster—and while Nursey was quickly scrolling through it the words 'Dex' and 'tequila' had him raising his eyebrows."-or-that one time Dex decides to do tequila shots for the first time ever and turns into a sappy, apologetic dork and Nursey is both astounded and very much in love.





	

**Author's Note:**

> from the five-word prompt: "time passes slower without you" and also I just really wanted to write this idea

Nursey smiled, feeling the heat rise from the coffee mug sitting on the table in front of him, chin resting in the palm of his hand as he listened to the red-headed boy going off on a rant in the seat across from him at Annie’s—talking about some kid in his computer science class that had flaked on their group project.

If Nursey was being honest with himself he was probably doing a little more watching than listening—taking in the way Dex’s eyebrows were furrowed in frustration, how his amber eyes seemed to hold more of a spark whenever he was going off about something—green eyes watching as freckled hands danced across the table as Dex spoke.

Nursey would have never imagined himself being so damn _fond_ of the way Dex looked when he was angry, but at some point things between them had fallen into place. After all that time they had spent fighting—hating each other when really the whole reason behind it was that they were both infuriated that they liked each other so much to begin with. Then there was that time after where they were just friends, which was somehow even more miserable than the fighting because not a second went by where Nursey didn’t want to just kiss him. Eventually he took the initiative and did it anyway—against his better judgment—and here they were over a year later, happy and good. Nursey wouldn’t trade it for the world.

“Nurse. _Nursey_ ,” Dex was saying as Nursey finally tuned back in, eyes shifting from where they had been focused on Dex’s lips over to those amber eyes that were suddenly much closer to his face as Dex tilted his head to get Nursey’s attention, waving a hand in front of his eyes, “What’re you fucking staring at? Are you even listening to me?”  
  
Nursey let out a quiet huff of laughter, a slow smile spreading across his face, “Yeah, yeah. I’m listening. Chad is a fucking wreck of a partner. He sucks, I’m sorry,” Nursey answered, his smile softening as he looked at Dex under half-hooded eyes before adding, “And I was staring at _you_ —how pretty you look when you’re mad,” he practically murmured.  
  
“Jesus fucking Christ, Nurse, you’re too much,” Dex practically groaned as he rolled his eyes. But Nursey didn’t miss the way Dex slumped a little more in his chair, how that ever obvious blush immediately began to creep down his neck at the compliment, or how for a few minutes after that he wouldn’t quite meet Nursey’s eyes.  
  
Dex could never take a compliment without turning bright red and telling Nursey to fuck off. Not only that, but whenever Dex slipped up and said anything cute he would always do it with a scowl on his face or an added smart remark—because that was Dex, and god forbid he wasn’t on the defense for one fucking second.

So, that was Dex and this was them. Nursey had learned this over time and now he found it endearing—because a lot of the time Dex would hide that embarrassment in the crook of Nursey’s neck, and despite telling him to shut up, he would also be kissing him a second later. Even when Dex was scowling or being a total ass, there was a certain way his eyes would soften that let Nursey know he really meant whatever nice thing he had said.

So Derek let him be embarrassed by his most recent compliment for a second before he reached over the table and gently squeezed Dex’s hand, “Okay, I’m listening. Chad is an ass. Continue.”  
  
Dex managed a laugh at that, letting Nursey keep his hand where it was before continuing his rant, “Chad is going to get a fucking _A_ because of _me_ …”  
  
  
***  
  
  
It was a Friday night and Nursey was sitting in the damn library, his laptop open with a Word document up on the screen. He knew there was a party going on at the Haus right now but he had to finish a paper for his _Women in American History_ class, because of course it was due before midnight on a Friday night and _of course_ Nursey had put it off until the very last minute.

He checked the time on his laptop for what felt like the millionth time as he was finishing up his last few citations. _10:53pm_. The night was still young, he could work with that.  
  
He pulled his phone from his pocket, finally taking it off of silent to check his texts now that he was practically finished. The SMH group text had completely blown up—as it always did during a kegster—and while Nursey was quickly scrolling through it the words _Dex_ and _tequila_ had him raising his eyebrows.

That alone motivated him enough to set his phone on the table and quickly finish up his citations, doing the quickest read-over ever before submitting the assignment.

Not long after he was swinging his backpack over his shoulder and tucking his phone in his pocket as he headed out the door.  
  
Nursey could hear the party before the Haus even came into sight—the bass thumping through the walls, the inevitable scattering of red cups across the front lawn as he got closer, the smell of booze and weed as he went through the front door.  
  
A few steps into the crowded mess of bodies he stopped, clapping hands with two of the Frogs that walked by as he used his height to let green eyes scan over the crowd in search of that fiery red hair.  
  
“NURSEY! You _finally_ made it, oh my gosh.”  
  
Derek heard him before he saw him coming, almost losing his balance when Chowder crashed into his side in a hug. He couldn’t help but laugh, slinging his arm around the other boy’s shoulders after ruffling his hair, “Hey Chow,” he grinned.

Chowder just huffed, pulling away in order to flatten his hair, as close to a frown on his face as Chowder ever really got. He hated when Nursey messed with his hair.

Nursey just laughed again, “Where’s Dex?” he asked, after giving the crowd another quick scan.

Chowder was immediately beaming again at the question, face red and eyes bright as he grinned, “ _Dex!_ ” he practically laughed, “Oh man, I don’t know who decided to give him tequila but—last time I saw him he was _dancing_.”

Nursey’s eyes visibly widened, “What the fuck,” he said, dumbfounded. It wasn’t even a question, just a statement—because Dex was the kind of party-goer who would sip his drink on the sidelines, play a few games of beer pong, maybe get a little handsier with Derek than he normally would have in a public place but _dancing_ —that was practically unheard of.  
  
“Is he even alive at this point?” Nursey asked, only letting the slightest bit of panic seep into his voice.

“No, no. He’s alive. He’s fine. It’s not that bad. He’s just funny,” Chowder answered, placing a hand on Nursey’s shoulder, “Don’t worry! I’ll go find him for you!”

With that, Chowder disappeared into the sea of bodies before Nursey could even say another word. Although, he didn’t really need to, because it was a minute later that he felt hands slip around his waist and a ghost of breath on the back of his neck, “Heard you were lookin’ for me,” a voice said in his ear.

Nursey turned around to finally see that head of bright red hair he had been looking for and those shining amber eyes, glossed over from the amount of alcohol Dex had drank. His cheeks were a light shade of pink, both from the heat of the Haus and the alcohol, making his freckles stand out even more than usual. The smirk on his face was confident, but the way his body swayed before Nursey placed his hands on his hips gave him away.

“Ohhh man, you are so fucked, babe,” Nursey said under his breath, a smirk on his face as he gave Dex a quick once over, eventually coming back up to meet his eyes, “You even gonna remember this tomorrow?”

“ _Fuck_ you. I’m fine,” Dex insisted, attempting to roll his eyes, somewhat failing to succeed, and then just electing to rest his head on Nursey’s shoulder instead, “Tired,” he added, “ _But fine_.”

Derek just laughed, moving his hands from Dex’s hips to wrap his arms around the other boy’s shoulders, “No more dancing then?” he asked with an added pout. “But I just got here.”  
  
“Too bad. Ya snooze, ya lose,” Dex mumbled against his shoulder, “You were _late_. I texted you hours ago. And you were too busy being like, studious or some shit.”

“You’re telling me that just because I was being a good student that I missed my _one opportunity_ to see William J. Poindexter shaking his thing?”

“Shut up Nurse. You weren’t being a good student. You left that paper to the last minute like you always do,” Dex responded, but all of his usual fight was gone from his voice and his eyes were now closed, head still comfortably resting on Nursey’s shoulder, “’M glad you’re here, though,” he added as an after thought.

Derek smiled at that, “Okay, c’mon. You’re going to bed. Or you’re gonna fall asleep in the middle of this party and you know there’s a fine in there somewhere for that,” he said, moving so that Dex was on his side, leaving one arm around his shoulder as he guided him towards the stairs.

“Wait—bed?! But, wait,” Dex mumbled, eyes flashing open as he let Nursey guide him through the house, “But I wanted to _dance_.”

Nursey laughed, stopping for a second and turning to give Dex a look. Amber eyes drilled into green ones for a second, before they almost immediately softened and a smile cracked across Dex’s face.

“No, no, I don’t. You’re right,” Dex said, breaking away from Nursey to make his own way to the stairs, “Don’t look so smug about it!” he added over his shoulder.

“I didn’t even say anything!” Derek laughed as he followed him, grabbing Dex’s shirt to stop him from running into someone as they went before heading up the stairs.  
  
  
***  
  
  
It felt like an eternity before they made it up to the attic—Dex having gotten distracted by two people on the way, deciding he had to take a piss _after_ they had already passed the bathroom, _and_ at one point almost falling down the stairs.

Once the door to their room was closed, Dex flopped face first down onto his bunk, letting out a groan of relief.  
  
“I can guarantee you’re never gonna drink tequila again after tonight,” Nursey smiled, taking a seat on the bed next to Dex.  
  
“No _way_ , I love tequila,” Dex insisted, flipping over onto his back in order to grin up at him.  
  
“You say that now,” Derek smirked, not being able to resist the opportunity to run his fingers through the ruffled mess of Dex’s hair, “Say it again tomorrow morning and I’ll believe you.”  
  
“Mmm,” Dex hummed, closing his eyes at the feeling of Nursey’s hand in his hair, sitting up a moment later to wrap an arm around Nursey’s shoulders and press a soft kiss to his cheek.  
  
Nursey bit back a smile, looking down at where his hands were folded in his lap before turning his head to look at Dex, their faces impossibly close but not quite touching, his smile not being able to hide itself in his eyes, “Who are you and what have you done with my boyfriend?” he said with a soft laugh.

Dex was quiet, letting those words wash over him and brows knitting together as something passed through those amber eyes that Derek couldn’t quite read.

“Nursey, I love you. You know that, right?” Dex finally said, voice much quieter now, losing the playfulness it had held earlier.  
  
Nursey tilted his head to the side, eyes softening, “I know.” he smiled, bringing a hand to rest on the side of Dex’s jaw.

“But _do you?_ ” Dex asked quietly, gaze breaking away to look down at his lap, before adding, “I’m always such a dick about it. I’m sorry,” he paused, biting at his bottom lip, before moving his gaze up to the ceiling, “It’s like—I can’t say one thing without rolling my eyes or like, acting pissed or whatever, and it’s just—,” he paused again, longer this time. Nursey wasn’t sure he was even going to say anything else, but right when he was about to break the silence Dex’s gaze fell back onto his own, “But I love you. I swear. I hope you _know_ that,” he finished.  
  
Nursey smiled, running a thumb over Dex’s bottom lip before leaning in to let his lips take its place. He let them linger there for a moment, barely pulling away to rest their foreheads against one another before saying, “I _know_. I promise I know, okay?”  
  
“Okay,” Dex swallowed and nodded, taking a moment to feel Nursey’s cool skin against his forehead before he let out another groan and fell back onto the bed, “Also, you’re like, really fucking hot Nurse,” Dex said, rambling now, that drunken look back in his eyes, “More than hot, actually. Beautiful is a better word for it. I don’t tell you that though. Because like, _everybody_ tells you that. You could use some humility in your life.”

Derek laughed, rolling his eyes before swatting Dex with a pillow, “Okay. _Bed_. _Sleep_ ,” he insisted before standing up, “I’m gonna get you a glass of water and some ibuprofen so you don’t strangle me tomorrow morning.”

“I would _never!_ ” Dex said indignantly before burying his face in the pillow Nursey had tossed at him.

Nursey couldn’t even attempt to hide the little smile that was present on his face the whole time he was getting Dex a glass of water and getting himself ready for bed. By the time he had made it back to their room, he still hadn’t quite managed to wipe it off his face.  
  
Dex looked like he was asleep when Nursey walked in, the only thing visible being a tuft of red hair poking out from under the sheets. As Nursey was setting the glass of water and the pills on the nightstand beside the bed Dex proved him wrong, peeking out from under the covers to whine, “Where did you go? That took forever.”  
  
“I was getting ready for bed. Don’t be such a drama queen,” Nursey said as he sat down on the edge of the mattress, “Scoot over.”  
  
Dex let out a sleepy sigh, looking at him from under droopy eyelids as he moved back towards the wall to make room for him, “’M not, it’s just—time passes slower without you.”  
  
A grin spread over the entirety of Nursey’s face, “Damn, Will. Now you’re turning into the poetic one.”  
  
Dex’s eyes flared up, his cheeks flushing pink, “Fuck you, Nurse! I’m going to sleep!” he said, grabbing the pillow beside him and throwing it at Nursey’s face.  
  
Nursey laughed, catching the pillow before it hit him.  
  
“There he is,” Derek smiled, squeezing himself into the bed beside Dex and draping an arm over his waist.  
  
"I love you," he added a minute later—and he couldn’t stop the affection from seeping into every word.

**Author's Note:**

> i don't think i'll ever get enough of these two. if you wanna send a prompt, head over to my [tumblr](http://xshadesofpurple.tumblr.com). and leave a comment here letting me know if you liked it!


End file.
